


Downpour

by Eiznel24



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reborntale, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 02:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12160092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eiznel24/pseuds/Eiznel24
Summary: Following the angel was fun, a way to pass the time. That is, until he got the angel's attention. Damn it.





	Downpour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PurrfecktlySinful](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurrfecktlySinful/gifts).



> A bday gift fic for the legendary wonderful Purr! I love you, okay? Have a good birthday, y'hear?

Rain.

 

He hated rain.

 

Here in this empty town, all it seemed to do was rain. He supposed in some other life -- his past life maybe -- he would have thought differently, but now it only served as an annoyance, making his clothes heavy and lulling him to sleep when there were better things he could be doing.

 

Like watching that damned angel.

 

He wasn’t quite sure why he was so fixated on the monster, but he took an inordinate amount of pleasure in watching him search for signs of life that he’d never find. There was no one here anymore. There hadn’t been for years. Almost anywhere he looked, he could see human remains and safely assume that whatever shitstorm had visited the town had been what had put him here, too. When he had still been stumbling about like a junkie coming off an intense high and figuring out where and what the hell he was, there had been other demons like him. And there had been angels, as well.

 

But existence was boring when everything within a reasonable distance was dead or crumbling. No human souls for demons to devour. No human souls for angels to protect. He supposed he should have gone with the rest of them, but he was a lazy demon, and lazy demons rarely saw the point in doing anything. But the angel wasn’t lazy by any means.

 

So why did he stay?

 

His small bat-like wings shuddered in their folded position against his back and he snapped his head in an animalistic way to his right. He balled his clawed fingers into tight fists in his open blue hoodie and his fanged grin widened.

 

The angel.

 

He watched from his position against the shattered remains of what was likely a post office, hardly paying attention to how tense his posture became, and glued his eyelights to the tall creature walking calmly amongst the ruins, looking so out of place that it made his bones rattle slightly in agitation. He wanted to take that purity and warp it, crush the angel’s innocence in his hands… but some smaller irrational voice was whispering that if the angel was broken, he would no longer be any fun. The very thing that drew his attention would be gone, reduced to an empty husk no better than him. His fists clenched even tighter and he had to resist snarling.

 

It was infuriating.

 

There was no other sound but the hiss of rain and the angel’s bootsteps. The monster was dressed up like… hell, what _was_ he dressed like? How were boots with underwear and croptop armor in any way practical? _‘shred the clothes, get him new ones. no, leave him naked,’_ his mind would whisper. It was tempting, but not worth it… yet.

 

A chill passed through his bones when he saw the angel pause and put his hands on his hips, his wings ruffling against his back. Gorgeous creations, this angel’s wings – they were an incredible shade of orange, almost light enough to be glowing. The feathers near his back were a darker shade, bleeding into and slightly mixing with the lighter color near the primary feathers. They were long, graceful, but obviously powerful, and Sans felt his own puny wings flutter in agitation.

 

“DRAT THIS RAIN! HOW IS ONE AS GREAT AS MYSELF SUPPOSED TO LOOK COOL WHEN IT MAKES MY WINGS SO HEAVY!?”

 

Sans grinned despite himself. So the angel had a voice, and it was obnoxiously loud. Not only that, but he seemed to be full of himself. Not unusual in either angels or demons. He shook his head and felt one of his horns scrape against the side of the building, then cursed to himself. The angel turned in his direction, eye sockets widening and his wings fluffing up even more than before.

 

“WHO IS THERE?”

 

Shit.

 

He needed to leave. He needed to leave now, and keep that loud monster away from him and… Wait. Why? It would be an opportunity to get close, to get the angel in his grip and crush those beautiful wings… No. No, he shouldn’t. Why shouldn’t he?

 

His indecision kept him rooted as the angel leapt in his direction, wings flaring out behind him and flapping once to push him forward. Sans’s head twisted in his direction, his instinctive distaste for angels making him bare his fangs and his left eye socket to light up in blue. His body tensed, hands coming out of his pockets to curl into a defensive position, one clawed foot sliding back slightly to push him in whatever direction he needed to go. The angel held up his hands in a peaceful gesture, despite his right eye lighting up in fiery orange in response to Sans’s magic.

 

“IT IS ALRIGHT, SMALL DEMON! I HAVE NO INTENTIONS OF FIGHTING YOU!”

 

One of Sans’s eye sockets twitched at having his height pointed out, but he pushed it aside.

 

“then what the fuck do you want?”

 

“LANGUAGE! SUCH COARSE WORDS ARE DISTASTEFUL AND COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY.”

 

“i don’t give a shit if you like it or not. spit it out; what do you want?” Damn it, what was he doing? Why wasn’t he running? Why wasn’t he attacking? Why wasn’t he trying to lure the angel closer?

 

It seemed the angel had completely ignored what he said and barreled on, hands clapping together in apparent excitement.

 

“MY NAME IS PAPYRUS, AND I THINK I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”

 

What? He took a step back from the monster, not comfortable having another being so close to him after so long of keeping to himself. Papyrus, huh… Not a bad name.

 

“back up – what do you mean you were _looking_ for me?”

 

Tilting his head curiously, the taller skeleton answered, “ONCE EVERYONE LEFT, I COULD STILL FEEL SOMETHING HERE. A PRESENCE OF SORTS! I WASN’T GOING TO LEAVE ANYONE BEHIND, NOT WHEN I HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE AMAZINGLY HEROIC AND JUST.”

 

Sans felt his insides twist with something between amusement and revulsion. He relaxed his posture and shoved his hands back in the pockets of his jacket, grinning sardonically.

 

“you wasted your time, buddy. i’m not goin’ anywhere, ‘specially not with a self-righteous freak like you.”

 

Papyrus crossed his arms and apparently decided to ignore his acerbic words again.

 

“I WILL DECIDE THE MERIT OF MY OWN CHOICES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! AND I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT STAYING TO MAKE SURE YOU WERE NOT ALONE WAS ABSOLUTELY THE CORRECT CHOICE!” His eye sockets darted to the floor, pensive, and voice dropping low. “THOUGH THAT CERTAINLY EXPLAINS THE WRONGNESS I FELT…” He looked at Sans again, smiling brightly. “YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN NEARBY, HAVEN’T YOU?”

 

Sans snorted and shook his head.

 

“dunno why you think that, but sure whatever.” He glanced at Papyrus, wariness thrumming in his bones. “whaddya mean, ‘nearby’?”

 

“WHEN I AM OUT HERE, SEARCHING! YOU ARE ALWAYS NEARBY, AREN’T YOU?”

 

Sans shifted nervously. This Papyrus was a weird, blinding ray of insufferable sunshine, but he seemed to be perceptive. Damn it, that was annoying.

 

“so what if i was? you gonna report me to whoever the hell you listen to?”

 

Papyrus leaned back, looking appalled.

 

“WHY ON EARTH WOULD I DO THAT? I STAYED BEHIND BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO BE ALONE!”

 

“what the hell? why?”

 

The angel’s wings fluttered again and he raised his forearm, his index finger pointing toward the sky. His other hand planted itself on his hip and his eye sockets fell closed, giving him the look of a lecturer.

 

“NO ONE DESERVES TO BE ALONE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! DEMON OR NOT, I SHALL KEEP YOU COMPANY!” His eye sockets opened and his grin widened. “EVERYONE NEEDS A FRIEND!”

 

A friend. Now _that_ was some ridiculous shit. Sans began to chuckle, and after a couple of seconds, it devolved into loud bellowing laughter. It echoed strangely in his skull, but was dampened by the soft patters of the rain. Papyrus stood there, still grinning, but looking slightly confused.

 

“I’M… GLAD YOU AGREE?”

 

Sans straightened, one finger coming up to wipe at tears of laughter that weren’t there, and his other hand patting at his midsection.

 

“that was great, really great. look, angel. papyrus, whatever,” he quickly added when he saw that Papyrus was going to correct him. “don’t need a friend, don’t want a friend. and if you keep up with it, you’re just gonna have a bad time.”

 

Papyrus crossed his arms, still smiling. Sans felt his tail swish angrily behind him and he willed it to stop.

 

“goin’ by that look, you’re not gonna listen to me. in that case…” He burst into motion, hopping up slightly, wings flaring out behind him. Sans lifted his hand from his jacket and slammed the back of it into Papyrus’s chest, sending him flying into the neighboring wall and causing several stones to fall around him. The angel slumped to the floor, looking dazed. He wheezed and clutched uselessly at his chest as Sans walked towards him and paused, crouching down to pick up a feather that had been dislodged. Tucking it into his pocket, he continued moving and got between the gasping angel’s legs, kneeling down. He poked Papyrus’s forehead with a clawed finger and forced him to make eye contact. With a grin, Sans dropped his voice low.

 

“good luck.”

 

And then he was gone.

 

* * *

 

Papyrus slowly clambered to his feet, one hand still on his chest, and flexed his wings experimentally. Nothing was broken, thank goodness. That… wasn’t quite the reaction he had been expecting. Then again, he hadn’t thought the presence left in the town to be a demon, either. There had been a sense of wrongness to it, but he had thought that perhaps they were just someone down on their luck, someone sad that needed someone like The Great Papyrus to cheer them on.

 

His breath evening out, he lowered his hand and clenched it into a fist. Well. This demon certainly needed someone like him to cheer him on if he was so small and angry! He just needed to talk to him more, that was all.

 

* * *

 

Sans sank against the wall of the ruined house he spent most of his time in, a place that brought him an unusual sense of nostalgia that no amount of venom could dispel. He growled lowly to himself, rubbing subconsciously at the fingertip that had touched Papyrus. When he shut his eye sockets and only saw orange, his low rumbling evolved to an outright snarl.

 

Papyrus had blushed when he’d gotten close.

 

* * *

* * *

 

Sans began to regret his choice not to run when Papyrus found him again two days later.

 

“AH, THERE YOU ARE! I HAD THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS WE COULD EXPLORE THE CITY TOGETHER!”

 

Sans frowned atop his perch on a gnarled and barren tree in what he imagined used to be the city’s park.

 

“how’d you find me?”

 

Papyrus grinned and puffed up proudly, his wings rising a little off his back before settling. Sans watched the movement intently, then flicked his eyelights towards the angel’s face, trying not to outwardly growl.

 

“I TRACKED YOUR SOUL SIGNATURE, OF COURSE!”

 

Sans’s eye sockets widened, feeling exposed and oddly… proud?

 

“how the hell do you know my soul signature?”

 

“YOU’RE CERTAINLY A VERY CURIOUS FELLOW, AREN’T YOU? I MEMORIZED IT FROM WHEN WE FIRST MET, OBVIOUSLY! AM I NOT INCREDIBLE?”

 

“yeah, that’s…something.”

 

His tail coiled around his own leg, squeezing tightly. This angel was… Sans frowned down at Papyrus, still feeling oddly indecisive. Hadn’t he wanted to break the angel before? Destroy and claim and consume… and yet he found himself wanting to keep Papyrus at a distance. He didn’t like the curiosity that was tearing at his mind. In addition, there was that sense of wrongness, the same wrongness that Papyrus had mentioned when they had met. If it felt like this for him, why was this stubborn skeleton still seeking him out?

 

…unless he felt the same curiosity??

 

“WELL? ARE YOU GOING TO COME WITH ME?”

 

Destroy.

 

Claim.

 

**_Keep away. Keep him away._ **

 

Sans narrowed his eye sockets, baring his fangs while his small wings made short, quick movements.

 

“and why should i?”

 

Papyrus tilted his head, as if thinking about it, then smiled widely.

 

“WHY NOT?”

 

There were so many reasons why he shouldn’t—

 

“fine.”

 

What?

 

“OH LOVELY! I KNEW YOU WOULD AGREE. I AM, AFTER ALL, VERY GREAT!”

 

Sans hopped down from his branch, knocking on Papyrus’s skull on the way, causing the angel to call out an indignant “HEY!”

 

“don’t let it get to your head, featherbrain. ain’t got nothin’ better to do.”

 

“ANYTHING.”

 

“what?”

 

“YOU DON’T HAVE _ANYTHING_ BETTER TO DO!”

 

Sans gave him a deadpan stare and started walking back to the tree.

 

“fuck it, i’m stayin’ here.”

 

Papyrus darted after him with a despairing look.

 

“NO WAIT!”

 

* * *

 

Sans watched from a distance as Papyrus huddled near a large fountain that may have been decent-looking at some point. The center spire where the water would have come out was broken off, and one section of the fountain’s well had crumbled.

 

Discomfort twisted in his gut. Papyrus looked peaceful, interacting with a couple of birds and letting them hop across his fingers. From his spot, he could hear Papyrus laugh to himself, a joyful little “NYEH HEH HEH!”

 

It was… adorable.

 

Not liking the thought process, he attempted to distract himself, conjuring a small blue bone and watching it revolve around his hand. Tilting his head and extending his hand, he directed the construct to fly at blinding speed toward Papyrus, grinning to himself. It passed several inches behind Papyrus’s skull, getting the birds to jump and flutter in panic before settling. He did it several more times at ten second intervals, enjoying Papyrus’s confusion, before sending the bone flying directly between the birds and Papyrus, causing the birds to fly off for good.

 

“HEY! SO IT WAS YOU! WHY WOULD YOU SEND THEM AWAY!?”

 

In a remarkably good mood from being so entertained, he shrugged, dismissing the construct with barely a thought. He closed one eye socket, training his one visible eyelight on the annoyed angel and smirking.

 

“’sa matter, angel? am i rufflin’ your feathers?”

 

Papyrus’s jaw dropped and Sans could see the effort it took for him not to explode.

 

“DID YOU JUST MAKE A JOKE?”

 

Sans shrugged again.

 

“and if i did?”

 

After a few moments of working his jaw soundlessly, Papyrus turned around and stomped away, his arms crossed.

 

“OF COURSE I GET HIM TO RELAX AND HE BEGINS TO MAKE TERRIBLE JOKES…”  His voice was an angry mutter.

 

Feeling even more satisfied than before, Sans began to follow behind at a distance, his hands in his pockets.

 

* * *

* * *

 

Several weeks had passed, and still the angel had not grown tired of him. Why? And still he himself had made no untoward advances or attacked. _Why_? He hated it. He hated himself. He hated Papyrus (no he didn’t). He dug his claws into his skull and dragged them downward, savoring the dull pain and the loud noise that overpowered his thoughts. He sat huddled against the wall of his hideaway, growling to himself sporadically.

 

“GOOD EVENING! I WAS HOPING WE COUL—”

 

Sans looked up at the object of his thoughts standing in the doorway. The angel looked concerned...how absurd.

 

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

 

Sans’s voice was low, rough.

 

“stay away from me.”

 

Papyrus hesitated, but continued inside anyway, his movements slow and careful.

 

“It is okay. You can trust me.”

 

So soothing… who knew his voice could become so soothing… _no!_

 

“my trust in you ain’t the fuckin problem, pal,” Sans snarled.

 

“Language,” Papyrus gently admonished. “Would you mind telling me what the problem is, then?”

 

“it’s you.”

 

The angel blinked a few times, evidently not suspecting that answer.

 

“Me?”

 

Papyrus frowned a little when Sans ignored the answer, looking increasingly wild.

 

“why are you still here? what do you want from me? are you monitoring me or something?”

 

Papyrus held out his hands, indicating peace, and took a couple more steps forward. Sans pressed himself against the wall.

 

“Not at all! I meant it when I said I stayed behind because I felt that the being that stayed behind simply needed a friend!”

 

“ _stop. moving._ ”

 

Papyrus froze, his palms still held up. All around Sans were white and blue bone constructs, all pointed at Papyrus.

 

“Okay. It will be okay.”

 

“no it won’t. it’s never been okay, and it never will be. we wouldn’t be what we are now and where we are now if things were ‘okay’.”

 

There was a brief period where neither of them said anything, the only sound the unconscious flicking of Sans’s tail against the floor.

 

“Perhaps you are right. But shouldn’t it be up to us now to make the best of what we have?”

 

Sans snarled loudly, sending one construct whizzing past Papyrus’s head to get lodged in the ruined wall behind and making it crumble more.

 

“what _is_ there? a ruined piece of shit city? all the useless fractured shit in my head? doesn’t seem very prime to me. tell me, _papyrus_. _what is there_?”

 

He stiffened as Papyrus reached for him, placing one large hand on his knee. Warm. He was warm. How was a skeleton warm?

 

“I’m here.”

 

He snorted.

 

“not a very convincing argument, there.”

 

Papyrus seemed to wrestle with something in his head before looking at Sans again, more earnest than before.

 

“I do not think I can put your mind together, or rebuild the city, but I can keep providing you with company! Something outside of just you.”

 

_i think about you all the time, and all it’s done is made me think i’m goin crazy._

 

“…yea sure, whatever you say pal.”

 

Papyrus smiled slightly and moved his hand away. They sat in silence for several long minutes before Papyrus, realizing Sans wasn’t going to say anything else, stood to leave. He put on a large smile, ignoring that the projectiles still around Sans adjusted to still point at his chest.

 

“I WILL BE ON MY WAY NOW. SURELY YOU NEED A MOMENT TO YOURSELF. HOPEFULLY WE CAN SPEND MORE TIME TOGETHER TOMORROW!”

 

As he made his way to the door one projectile launched past the side of his skull and lodged itself in the doorway. He turned his head to look at Sans, and saw that, while still slumped and looking like death warmed over, he didn’t look angry anymore.

 

“my name is sans.”

 

* * *

 

A name…

 

Feeling inexplicably flustered, Papyrus’s wings fluffed up and his cheekbones flared with orange. He turned back around, standing ramrod straight, and nodded feverishly.

 

“I-IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU, SANS! I’LL BE ON MY WAY NOW!”

 

* * *

 

Once Papyrus was no longer in range, Sans dismissed his constructs and huffed to himself in amusement. Such a strong reaction with just a name.

 

* * *

* * *

 

Another couple of weeks and Sans found himself in the park again, sitting on his branch and staring at the night sky. It was a nice thing to look at. He wondered if his mind would shut up if he was among those stars.

 

“Do you look for something up there?” came the soft query from below.

 

Sans glanced down, finally acknowledging Papyrus’s presence. He’d already been standing there for several minutes, silently watching him.

 

“nah. just wish i could be closer sometimes.”

 

He blinked. Why had he admitted that? He glared at Papyrus, feeling oddly vulnerable.

 

“Have you tried flying up?”

 

A flash of annoyance. He tilted his shoulder forward, flapping his small wings a couple of times to prove his point.

 

“bit difficult to do that.”

 

“Ah, I see.”

 

Sighing to himself, Sans hopped down from his branch and scratched at his skull, looking for all the world like he had just been given a long list of chores he had no desire to do.

 

“so what’s on the agenda this time? wanna go explore a grocery store or somethin’?”

 

Papyrus said nothing as Sans walked past, and Sans’s brow ridges pulled downward at the silence.

 

“hey, why ain’t y—”

 

Long arms snaked around his midsection and his nasal cavity was filled with Papyrus’s scent. Instinct was screaming in his head to do anything he could to shake the angel off, but he heard a deep murmur of ‘Relax’. He could barely acknowledge the word before he saw a nearly blinding flare of orange-white light in his peripheral vision and was in the air. He dug his claws into the arms around his midsection and realized, face burning in shame, that his tail had wrapped around Papyrus’s leg instinctively. Having to resist wincing as his horns dug into Papyrus’s chest, he leaned his head forward a tad to relieve the pressure, watching the ground fall away beneath him.

 

“ ** _what the hell do you think you’re doing!?_** ”

 

“I’M HELPING!” was the response shouted over the wind.

 

Sans tilted his head to the side, becoming mesmerized by the movements of the wing he could see. Its glow cast a warm light upon his fingers and Papyrus’s arm and flickered with every wingbeat. It was beautiful.

 

A sudden flare of possessiveness coursed through him, and his grip tightened against Papyrus’s arm. Papyrus had stayed behind for _him_. Papyrus was carrying _him_ through the air. Papyrus was _his_. Nearly purring at the thought, he watched the wing for a few more seconds before returning his attention toward the ground beneath him. Where were they? He scanned his surroundings, realizing they were above the mountain that he could always see in the distance. For some reason, he’d never wanted to get close to it.

 

Papyrus landed gently on a small flat outcropping halfway up the mountain, his wings folding neatly behind him and the bright glow fading to the hue Sans was more familiar with. Papyrus held his hands open before him and beamed.

 

“SO WHAT DO YOU THINK!?”

 

Mutely, Sans moved to the edge of the flat area and took in the expanse of stars.

 

After a moment, he turned to look at Papyrus and flatly said, “i hate it.”

 

Then he fell over the edge.

 

* * *

 

Wings flaring with light again, Papyrus lunged after Sans, a lump of fear where his throat would be.

 

“SANS!!”

 

He heard a faint chuckle and he twisted midair to see Sans clinging to the cliff face, hands and feet digging into the dark gray stone. With how Sans had turned his head, only one eyelight was visible, though it was lit up with obviously devilish glee. Sans crawled easily (too easily) up to where they had landed and gave Papyrus another amused glance before letting go with his hands… only to walk upside down and casually go back over the edge. Papyrus angrily followed suit, hovering briefly with powerful beats of his wings.

 

* * *

 

Sans had begun laughing when he’d gotten to the top but immediately cut himself off when he saw how fierce Papyrus looked, wings glowing, right eye alight, hovering above him like some vengeful god. The demonic instincts were rearing again, saying to be careful.

 

“i was just playin a pra—”

 

Papyrus barreled into him, a flurry of feathers overtaking his senses and feeling like the life (unlife?) was being crushed out of him.

 

“what the hell do you think you’re—”

 

“DON’T YOU EVER WORRY ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!”

 

“…”

 

Sans tapped on Papyrus’s arm while pulling backward, trying to get some distance between them.

 

“relax.”

 

He finally got a view of Papyrus’s face and was surprised to see that the angel was crying. An angel… crying for a demon?

 

“it was just a joke - the view is nice. as for the other thing. i can pull the… gravity… of my own soul in a different direction for a short time. can’t do it to anyone or anything else.” He crossed his arms, rolling his eyelights. “stars know i’ve tried,” he muttered. “so stop crying. it’s weird. and uncomfortable.” He gave Papyrus a pointed look. “besides, big strong heroes don’t cry.”

 

Papyrus sniffled and placed his hands on his knees, having sunk completely to the floor after Sans had pulled away.

 

“O-of course they do! The strongest heroes are never afraid to cry.”

 

“is that right…?”

 

“That’s right!”

 

Sans moved behind Papyrus, settling himself down against the fluff of the angel’s feathers. His angel. His Papyrus. A crooked grin overtook his features when he felt the wings poof up against him and he closed his sockets, telling himself it would only be for a little bit.

 

“guess i’ve got a lot to learn, then.”


End file.
